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High-Speed Railway Advances in India-Japan Economic Partnership

EAM Dr S. Jaishankar and his Japanese counterpart met in New York during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar and his Japanese counterpart Yōko Kamikawa on Friday agreed to strengthen cooperation on the economic front, including achieving steady progress on the high-speed railway project, a flagship project between India, Japan.

The two ministers met in New York during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

In a 30-minute-long meeting, both ministers affirmed that maintaining and strengthening a free and open international order based on the rule of law is critical and that Japan and India would strengthen their responses to issues in the international community, according to a release issued by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The two ministers also shared views on regional situations including the Indo-Pacific and the situation in Ukraine, and on the Security Council reform.

EAM Jaishankar congratulated Foreign Minister Kamikawa on her appointment.

In response, Minister Kamikawa expressed her intention to further develop the “Japan-India Special Strategic and Global Partnership” and her respect for India’s efforts as the Chair of the G20 New Delhi Summit.

Minister Kamikawa also stated that the two nations, as the G7 and G20 presidencies respectively, were able to cooperate closely and link G7 outcomes to G20 outcomes.

Taking to his social media ‘X’, formerly known as Twitter, Jaishankar stated, “Delighted to meet Foreign Minister of Japan Yoko Kamikawa at #UNGA78. Exchanged perspectives on our Special Strategic and Global Partnership Discussed our regional, multilateral and global cooperation and taking them forward.”

Jaishankar is leading the Indian delegation for a week-long visit to New York, where he is scheduled to address a High-Level session of the 78th UNGA on September 26 according to an official statement by the Ministry of External Affairs.

During his visit from September 22-30, Jaishankar will in keeping with India’s support for the Global South, host a special event ‘India-UN for Global South: Delivering for Development’.

Upon completion of the 78th UNGA-related engagements, the external affairs minister will visit Washington DC from September 27-30 for bilateral meetings with US interlocutors.

His program includes discussions with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, senior members of the US administration, US business leaders and think tanks. (ANI)

ALSO READ: ‘India, Brazil, Germany, Japan should get UNSC permanent seats’

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Growing India-Japan ties to benefit Northeast and Bay of Bengal

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida

Japanese Prime Minister said North East India, which is surrounded by land, still has unexploited economic potential, reports Ateet Sharma

Political and economic stability in countries across the Indian Ocean region is becoming increasingly important for India and Japan as they work closely together to realise a ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’ (FOIP).

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi delivered the message loud and clear as they addressed the India-Japan Forum in New Delhi on Friday.

In the Indian capital for a little over 24 hours, Hayashi held in-depth discussions with Jaishankar during the India-Japan Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue that lasted nearly two-and-a-half hours late Thursday evening.

Early Friday, both ministers were at the 2nd India-Japan Forum 2023, not only discussing the progress made in the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership but also their ongoing partnership towards the future of the Indo-Pacific.

Jaishankar pointed out that the increasing New Delhi-Tokyo convergences happened as Japan was desirous of stepping out of its comfort zone and India ready to Look and Act East.

“I think that’s where the big intersection in a way has happened. And bear in mind that each in their own way were also globalising and today when Minister Hayashi speaks about Bangladesh or yesterday we had a discussion about Sri Lanka and that is where he’s going from here, we find today ability and interest and inclination to work with Japan in a number of third countries,” mentioned the EAM.

Calling India an “indispensable partner”, it was in New Delhi a few months ago that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida outlined his new Indo-Pacific strategy that includes integrated development of Northeast India and Bangladesh as part of a broader Bay of Bengal community.

Kishida had listed three important regions – Southeast Asia, South Asia, and the Pacific Islands – where multi-layered connectivity could overcome vulnerabilities and boost economic growth.

“North East India, which is surrounded by land, still has unexploited economic potential. Viewing Bangladesh and other areas to the south as a single economic zone, we will promote the Bay of Bengal-Northeast India industrial value chain concept in cooperation with India and Bangladesh to foster the growth of the entire region,” the Japanese PM said while delivering a policy speech at the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) on March 20.

Citing the critical situation in Sri Lanka, Kishida had also made it clear that Japan will closely collaborate with India in the South Asian region.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo on April 27 (Image courtesy: PM’s Office of Japan)

A few weeks later, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina flew to Tokyo where Kishida expressed his desire to create synergies by organically linking cooperation under the ‘Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt’ (BIG-B) initiative with the development of the North Eastern Region of India. He also laid out the plan for the ‘Industrial Value Chain’ concept, which aims to improve the connectivity of the entire Bay of Bengal region.

In May, Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Kishida held a summit meeting in Tokyo where the two leaders welcomed the holding of the Creditors Committee meeting on restructuring of Sri Lanka’s debt under the three co-chairs – India, France and Japan.

On Friday, the Japanese Foreign Minister admitted that, as the world faces difficult challenges at a turning point in history, close coordination with India will be key to bringing peace and stability to the Indo-Pacific at large.

“In that vein, Japan intends to drive forward our cooperation in all areas to expand our Special Strategic and Global Partnership with India,” he said.

Foreign Ministers of India and Japan at the India-Japan Forum in New Delhi.

As you read this, Hayashi would have already landed in Colombo – his second stop on the tour of Southwest Asia and Africa and the first visit of a Japanese Foreign Minister to Sri Lanka since 2019.

It will be followed by a visit to the Maldives over the weekend and South Africa, Uganda and Ethiopia next week as Japan and India – the respective chairs of G7 and G20, currently – continue to strengthen engagement with the Global South.

ALSO READ: India, Japan cement ties, call for rules-based Indo-Pacific

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Major Japanese firms pivoting from China to India: Takashi Suzuki

Japanese firms rank India as top investment destination(IN)

More than 72 per cent of the Japanese companies are willing to expand their operations in India. For China, the number is small at only 33.4 per cent, Takashi Suzuki interacts with Mahua Venkatesh

With the deepening of India-Japan economic ties, the spotlight is on Takashi Suzuki, Chief Director General (South Asia), Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO). Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in March announced an investment plan of Rs 3,20,000 crore ($42 billion) in India in the next five years. Suzuki, who was earlier Director General, Bengaluru, now has to carve out measures to enhance economic collaboration between the two countries while ensuring the smooth entry of Japanese companies into India. He spoke about the future plans and also the challenges. An excerpt.

Do you think the spike in Covid cases in China will dent supply chain network for India?

China is not a threat to India. I don’t think that the Covid surge in China will have any major impact on Indian economy or even the supply chain network. It may be dented for sometime but it will be short lived. (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) Modiji’s focus on self reliance will go a long way in boosting the overall economy. India was the number one country to recover from the Covid impact. It was the fastest to recover from the Covid impact and normalise its economy. If you see today, its consumption pattern is back to normal.

Japanese Prime Minister Kishida has outlined huge investment plans for India in the next five years. What is the roadmap?

Yes, that is huge. The Japanese companies are very positive about India’s economy. More than 72 per cent of the Japanese companies are willing to expand their operations in India. For China, the number is small at only 33.4 per cent. Until now, Japanese companies have had a very good experience in India. Our companies are making profits. If you see Uniqlo, it has already turned profitable within three years of entering the Indian market. That is remarkable.

Several other companies, even those in the automobile sector, are also looking at diversification. For example, auto companies may be looking at the mobility piece and even say batteries. Japanese companies Panasonic, Toshiba, Hitachi — are also investing large chunks to develop their R&D (research and development). The idea is to make in India for the global markets.

The companies are also looking at new sectors like e-commerce, healthcare, agro-tech, retail — other than automobiles or electronics.

What are the challenges?

One of the biggest challenges for us in JETRO is to bring in more SMEs (small and medium enterprises) into India. We have the big companies here but there is a sense of reluctance among the smaller companies to enter India. We are looking at that. To touch the investment figures announced, we need the Japanese SMEs to come into India.

If you compared it with China or other Southeast Asian markets, you will find few — just about 20 per cent of the Japanese companies are large. Majority of the companies are SMEs.

Why are the SMEs reluctant to foray into India?

The SMEs typically do not have very large investment resources and they have already invested in other countries like China. So for them, it is not easy to pull out from one country and then reinvest. It is a lot of money for them. That is one major reason but we need to figure out a way to have more Japanese SMEs in India. Also there is another problem. While Aatmanirbhar Bharat is a very good policy, at times in certain cases, India’s trade policy tends to be protectionist. So if imports of certain items which also include raw materials and several food items are restricted, it poses a big challenge for the smaller companies.

There is limited people to people connect between India and Japan. Your view.

I have been saying that people to people connect must be increased. It is very important. Japanese nationals living in the US are 4.3 lakh, in China, the number is 1 lakh. But Japanese in India — only 9000. Indian nationals in Japan are 36,000. But the number of Chinese living in Japan is 8 lakh, even Nepalese population in Japan is almost 1 lakh. We celebrated 75 years of India Japan relations but the people to people connect is very low. We need to change that. We are looking at coming up with more recruitment programmes with educational institutions. We have one such with IIT Hyderabad. But now we are planning to have such a programme with other educational institutions as well.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

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India, Japan discuss nuke threats, South China Sea

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida

Kishida condemned North Korea’s ballistic missile launches, saying that they are destabilising the region, reports Asian Lite News

Amid threats from nuclear weapons in the Indo-Pacific region, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida on Saturday discussed North Korea’s destabilising ballistic missile launches in violation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.

Kishida condemned North Korea’s ballistic missile launches, saying that they are destabilising the region.

The Japanese PM is in New Delhi on a two-day visit to take part in the 14th India-Japan annual summit.

In a joint statement, both the countries reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearisation of North Korea, consistent with the relevant UNSC resolutions, and the importance of addressing the concerns related to North Korea’s proliferation linkages.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida

They urged North Korea to fully comply with its international obligations under the relevant UNSC resolutions, and to immediately resolve the abduction issue.

The Prime Ministers also reaffirmed their intention to collaborate closely to realise peace and stability in Afghanistan, and stressed the importance of addressing all humanitarian crisis, promoting human rights and ensuring establishment of a truly representative and inclusive political system.

“They also reaffirmed the importance of UNSC resolution 2593 (2021) which unequivocally states that the Afghan territory should not be used for sheltering, training, planning or financing terrorist acts, and called for concerted action against all terrorist groups, including those sanctioned by the UNSC,” the joint statement said.

South China Sea

Amid threat in the Indo-Pacific region, both leaders have discussed the security challenges in the South China Sea.

Kishida welcomed the Indo-Pacific Oceans’ Initiative (IPOI) announced by Modi in 2019.

Both Prime Ministers acknowledged the growing space for cooperation between the IPOI and Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP). India appreciated Japan’s participation as a lead partner on the connectivity pillar of IPOI.

Indian Navy destroyer INS Kolkata and tanker INS Shakti, transits the international waters in the South China Sea along with US, Japanese, Philippine ships. (Photo JMSDF

They reiterated their strong support for ASEAN’s unity and centrality and their full support for the “ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP)” which upholds the principles such as the rule of law, openness, freedom, transparency and inclusiveness.

The Prime Ministers emphasised that India and Japan, as two leading powers in the Indo-Pacific region, had a shared interest in the safety and security of the maritime domain, freedom of navigation and overflight, unimpeded lawful commerce and peaceful resolution of disputes with full respect for legal and diplomatic processes in accordance with international law.

They reaffirmed their determination to continue prioritizing the role of international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and facilitate collaboration, including in maritime security, to meet challenges against the rules-based maritime order in the East and South China Seas.

They emphasized the importance of non-militarisation and self-restraint.

They further called for the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and the early conclusion of a substantive and effective Code of Conduct in the South China Sea in accordance with international law, especially UNCLOS, without prejudice to the rights and interests of all nations including those not party to these negotiations.

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